lower ball joints STUCK

[Schurkey]

Penetrating oil is a total waste of time, money, effort, and enthusiasm when the two parts are put together with what amounts to an AIR TIGHT SEAL between them. The oil can't get between the two parts to do any good.

[bluecab]

More stuck stuff.

Trying to get the torsion bar out of the lower a-arm which is disconnected from the chassis.

I think I see a trend here, take a car from Arizona that has NO undercoating, bring it to New England and drive it thru a couple of winters.. The result is that everything that can be rusted together IS.

Which end of the torsion bar usually comes out first? Is there supposed to be grease in the receiver sockets that the bar mounts in?

So far I've soaked both ends in PB blaster, put the torch to the A arm end pounded it with a hammer and put a big bar clamp on it that is supposed to develop 1000lbs of force.

I'm all out of ideas.

Anybody have any for me?

[69W34]

Okay time to employ the kiss factor the a arms should with relative ease slid right off. That said here's what i do. Invert the torsion bars up right as close to plumb as you can get with a arms down and cross-member the top soak/flood the torsions bars at the a arm with wd40 / liquid wrench your choice and let it set keep it wet for a day or two. Then (keep in mind heat is optional as I have never needed to use it -though it does have its place) apply heat and i don't mean a propane torch I mean an acetylene torch that will get that arm 'hot' all around the area where the is seated in the a-arm then let it cool back to air temp.
Lay down the bars and chain off the cross member to something substantial at the bar to are working on. Clamp two 2x4s together, drill a hole between them big enough to clear the torsion bar and slide, then re-clamp the 2 by's around the T-bar (this will serve as your strike point) as you don't want to hit the a arm. Then using a 6-8 # sledge smack the 2 bys close and parallel to the Torsion bar so that the 2 by's impact the a-arm it may take 2-3 time but that should do the trick, east coast or not, this has work for me every time!

[Doc Hubler]

It sounds like you still have the engine in your car and are just changing suspension parts. We have taken the torsion bars off my 67 Toro, along with the A-arms. Tonight we took the old ball joint off the A-arms (the needed to be replaced!). In a day or two I will take the A-arms to the machine shop and have the old bushings pushed out so we can clean/repaint the A-arms, then re-install new bushings. We also took the large bearings out of the knuckles. I've got the new bearings and front suspension kit with new ball joints for upper/lower from Kantor. I need to replace the O-ring on the knuckle. That didn't come with the kit from Kantor. Any info about that? I think I can just get one from NAPA. I didn't look at it personally tonight, but notice it from the Service manual.

Another question. what greatse should we use for the torsion bars when we replace those? THe old stuff was kind of hard and sticky -- that's really why he's had such a time getting them out. I'm going to see if I can find any suitable replacements for the rubber mounts for the crossmember that holds the torsion bars in the back. Steele Rubber doesn't have anything exact, but hopefully close enough. I did find what I think will be reasonably similar radiator mounts from Steele Rubber. Any suggestions are appreciated. You can view some videos of the disassembled torsion bars, and A-arms to this point on Facebook at Perfect Shape Customs. https://www.facebook.com/PerfectShapeCustoms

[Schurkey]

In a day or two I will take the A-arms to the machine shop and have the old bushings pushed out

Or (hint...hint) you could NOT have the old shells pushed out. Warm the shells with a propane torch, the rubber bushing slides out of the shell. Clean up the inside of the shell with emery cloth, and install greased Polyurethane bushing inserts. No press needed, and no damage to the control arm from improperly supporting it while applying pressure. PM me for details on the Poly bushings.

what greatse should we use for the torsion bars when we replace those?

Plain ol' ordinary chassis grease. The last time I had all that apart, I used the bright red stuff, but any chassis grease should work fine.

[Doc Hubler]

The new bushings are one piece; I'm not sure what you mean. Maybe you can be more specific with some pictures. Appreciate your help.

[Schurkey]

The new bushings are one piece; I'm not sure what you mean. Maybe you can be more specific with some pictures. Appreciate your help.

New rubber bushings are three pieces: A steel outer shell, a steel inner sleeve, and rubber bonded to both steel parts. When the bolt through the middle is tightened, the control arm can only move by twisting the rubber. Therefore, the bolt cannot be tightened until the suspension is at normal ride height or the rubber gets over-stressed.

My Poly bushing inserts re-use the cleaned-up outer shell. I supply new black polyurethane inserts and new inner sleeves. The bushing inserts are not bonded to either steel piece When the bolt is tightened, the inner sleeve is free to rotate within the bushing, so the bolt can be tightened with the suspension in any position. The poly insert must be greased before installation, but the insert pushes into the original shell with hand pressure.

[Doc Hubler]

OK, thanks for the tips. I'll have to decide just what to do. I've already paid for the parts. I'll have to see what things look like at the machine shop.

[torogt]

Who makes the kit I would like to put polyurethane bushings in my car?

[Schurkey]

Who makes the kit I would like to put polyurethane bushings in my car?

PM sent.